Another Question on What Language to use!

[ductiletoaster]

Ok i know this question is thrown out alot but ill try and be as specific as possible. I have done alot of research on C++ and Java and they are both my strong points so im totally comfortable programming in them however i need help decided what i should focus on in specific instances.

1)Now i want to develop software that is as cross platform compatible as possible. To me both Java and C++ can fit that bill. Now in my experience Java is usually very easy to transfer from one machine to another.

2) I would like the program to be standalone like a single executable file. now with Java i know u need the JVM to run the programm. I was wondering if there is a way to some how create a standa alone Java app that doesnt need the The user to install java JRE or whatever.

3) One of my concerns is GUI development. I am comfortable with developing gui's in java and i know gui development is pretty easily transferred cross platform but i have never done gui with C++ and was wondering how does it compare?

4) Lastly though not a requirement i pretty much already know the answer to this one. To reach as any people i would like to develop apps for web based usage via interactive site. I know u can use languages like PHP and thats probably what i would normally do but i want to get some incite on using Java or C++....

OK haha if u think Im a complete moron thats fine lol but any info regarding this would be nice! thanks!!!


OOO and any suggestions on Crossplatform compilers.... for C++ would be nice

[WingedPanther]

C++ has to be compiled for each target platform. GCC/MinGW is one option for cross-platform compiler. There are also several cross-platform GUI libraries, including wxWidgets, QT, gtkmm, and Ultimate++. You can use CGI to use C++ apps for web development.

Java has a portable runtime environment here: http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/java_portable and launcher here: http://portableapps.com/apps/utiliti...table_launcher

Java Servlets can be used for web development.

[dargueta]

And for cross-platform IDEs... Code::Blocks works great.

[JCoder]

1) Transferring Java code is much easier, especially when you have to use lots of libraries - 1:0 for Java
2) Obviously 0:1 (C++ wins)
3) Creating GUIs in Java is easier, but some C++ toolkits like Qt are also very good (if you don't mind programming C++ is generally more difficult) - 1:1
4) Java is great at web-apps, C++ is non-existent in this area, 1:0 for Java

So, to summarize: we have 3:2 for Java

[dargueta]

C++ is non-existent in this area

Ever heard of CGI? Yes, I'm aware of PHP and Perl, but C++ affords you quite a bit more control.

[JCoder]

CGI is a technology of 1993-1997, pre-PHP and pre-Java era.
Doing webapps in C++ nowadays, although surely possible, is pure insanity.
Anything you can do in C++ can be done better in Java, Scala, Ruby or Python.

[dargueta]

Eh...I tend to despise high-level languages, so I'm kinda biased. C++ is as high as I go.

[WingedPanther]

CGI is a technology of 1993-1997, pre-PHP and pre-Java era.
Doing webapps in C++ nowadays, although surely possible, is pure insanity.
Anything you can do in C++ can be done better in Java, Scala, Ruby or Python.

At least C++ is self-consistent. Also, some of the Boost libraries would be very challenging to implement in Java with the same level of elegance for the user.

I like Java, but they need to admit the need for operator overloading (autoboxing, string and '+').

[tossy]

C C++ are the basic languages in programming and JAVA and PHP are useful to get more knowledge...

[dargueta]

I would actually reverse that statement. C/C++ are like Chinese or Japanese - they take a while to master. Java and PHP are like Spanish. For me, anyway. Each has its merits. Java and PHP are simple and easy to learn, but nowhere near as powerful as C or C++. Won't get far trying to write an operating system in Java.